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Last year saw slower growth in Medicaid, a federal-state program for low-income individuals, as well as in prescription drug spending. Both factors likely contributed to the reduced growth in overall health spending. Prescription drug spending grew 5% in 2016, compared with 9% in 2015, a shift largely be attributed to a decrease in the use of specialty drugs to treat hepatitis C. At the same time, the growth of Medicaid slowed last year as the impact of an expansion of the program under the Affordable Care Act began to wane. (Hackman, 2/15)

The cost of medical care in the United States is expected to grow at a faster clip over the next decade and overall health spending growth will outpace that of the gross domestic product, a U.S. government health agency said on Wednesday. A report by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cited the aging of the enormous baby boom generation and overall economic inflation as prime contributors to the projected increase in healthcare spending. (Abutaleb, 2/15)

The projections are based on an assumption that the legislative status quo will prevail — an unlikely scenario given President Trump and Republicans' plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The spending projections are similar to previous estimates, putting health care on track to make up about a fifth of the economy by 2025. (Johnson, 2/15)

But the CMS analysis found that healthcare spending growth between 2016 to 2025 will be largely influenced by changes in the economy and population as opposed to coverage expansion under the ACA. The healthcare law greatly influenced the average 5.5% spending growth experienced in 2014 and 2015 as more people enrolled on the exchanges and gained Medicaid coverage, but those numbers are expected to stabilize. (Castellucci, 2/15)

Wednesday's report from nonpartisan experts at Health and Human Services concludes that health care spending will claim a growing share of national resources for the foreseeable future, regardless of what President Donald Trump and Congress do with the Obama-era health law. Health care will grow at an annual average of 5.6 percent from 2016-2025, outpacing expected economic growth. Now $3.5 trillion, the nation's health care tab will increase to nearly $5.5 trillion in 2025, accounting for about one-fifth of the economy. That puts a squeeze on other priorities, such as infrastructure improvement. (2/15)

In its last report in July, CMS projected health spending would grow an average of 5.8 percent by 2025. They noted at the time that the figure remains below the average over the previous two decades before 2008, which was nearly 8 percent. (McIntire, 2/15)